Magistrates Courts: Closure

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General when he next expects to meet representatives of the lay magistracy to discuss the closure of small magistrates courts.

Mike O'Brien: I regularly meet with lay magistrates when visiting areas of the country, however the specific issue is not regularly raised.

Betting Shops

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what change there has been in the number of betting shops since the enactment of the Gambling Act 2006.

Richard Caborn: Local magistrates courts currently issue bookmakers permits. The Government does not hold information centrally on the number of bookmakers permits held.
	However, the Gambling Commission has undertaken to publish figures on the number of licensed betting offices in 2008.

Abandoned Vehicles

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many investigatory cases have been delayed because of Operation Cube; and when he expects the review to be brought to conclusion.

Paul Goggins: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has provided PSNI with a list of those cases that it believes may have been affected. PSNI is presently gathering farther information regarding the investigative status of cases on the list and their priority before deciding upon further action. Given the current position of this exercise PSNI are unable to provide a timeline or quantify the cases involved.

Payments: Police Service of Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much discount in payment for goods and services was lost by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years owing to a failure to pay invoices within the stipulated period.

Paul Goggins: It is PSNI policy always to avail of supplier discount when offered. No discount has been lost by PSNI in any of the last three years.

Armed Forces: Intimidation

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the recent Continuous Attitude Survey findings relating to bullying and harassment in the armed forces.

Derek Twigg: These surveys demonstrate that we are listening to our armed forces personnel. Like any good employer, we need to monitor the long-term perceptions of our people so that we can review our policies.
	Harassment and bullying are unacceptable in the armed forces, because of their impact on individuals, team cohesion and thus operational effectiveness. The armed forces are committed to raising awareness that bullying and harassment will not be tolerated, and allegations will be thoroughly investigated and action taken, where appropriate.
	The armed forces have entered into formal agreements with the Commission for Racial Equality to promote racial equality and take action to prevent racial harassment and discrimination; and the Equal Opportunities Commission to prevent and deal with sexual harassment. They also have a range of work in hand in response to the ALI report on "Safer Training", the HCDC's report on Duty of Care and Sir Nicholas Blake's report on the death at the Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut.

Armed Forces: Schools

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Education and Skills on improving the transfer of the statements of service children with special educational needs and high mobility.

Derek Twigg: Discussions are continuing with the Department for Education and Skills—and with devolved education authorities—to identify ways of addressing difficulties that arise when service children with special educational needs move between local authority areas, between the devolved education authorities of the UK or between the UK and overseas. It was raised most recently in the service children's education forum on 17 April this year.
	The MOD Children's Education Advisory Service provides direct support to service families that have registered a child with special educational needs, which they are advised and strongly encouraged to do. This includes acting with and on behalf of parents in establishing how needs will be met in a new location and advising and accompanying them in dealings with local authorities, education authorities and the SEN and Disabilities Tribunal.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Peace Keeping Operations

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Land Rovers of each type have turned over in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan since the first deployment of British armed forces in each country.

Adam Ingram: Our collective records show that to date, there have been some 87 reported accidents, in Iraq, of Land Rovers "overturning without first colliding" and 13 in Afghanistan.
	I can also confirm that at least 22 of these incidents in Iraq were the Snatch variant Land Rover and at least two were WMIK variant; in Afghanistan at least three were Snatch and one was a WMIK variant. The other incidents in both theatres were standard 'General Service' or 'Fitted For Radio' type variants. Further details of these vehicles could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Costs

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007,  Official Report, column 50W, on the Army: costs, what the reasons were for the amount spent on maintenance of the property occupied by the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland, broken down by main budget heading.

Derek Twigg: The figure of £4,702.52 previously provided under the generic heading 'maintenance' contained an error of £17.50, the total figure spend on maintenance was actually £4,685.02, which covered a range of costs, a breakdown as follows:
	
		
			  Work carried out  Cost (£) 
			 Supply gardening sundries 196.20 
			 Various electrical repairs 288.40 
			 Power wash external areas 654.48 
			 Treat flea infestation 100.00 
			 Wash windows/frames (internal and external) 599.25 
			 Rebed loose masonry at patio wall 341.61 
			 Eradicate wasps nest at driveway 99.88 
			 Clean out guttering and down pipes 352.50 
			 Replace dish washing machine 348.92 
			 Rectify leak at waste disposal m/c 102.23 
			 Trace/rectify leak in roof space 156.28 
			 Supply and fix chrome soap dish 14.61 
			 Reseal kitchen sink 26.40 
			 Supply and fix handle at T/dryer 88.13 
			 Replace x 8 tensioners at curtains 188.00 
			 Replace bath c/w taps etc. 587.50 
			 Replacement of oil pump 185.51 
			 Testing of portable appliances (33) 88.20 
			 Replace thermostatic valves x 2 125.92 
			 Planned maintenance for boilers and smoke alarms 141.00 
			 Total 4,685.02

Army: Greater London

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which occasions the General Officer Commanding London District met hon. Members and peers in the last 12 months.

Derek Twigg: The information is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Date  Event 
			 11 May 2006 Armed forces parliamentary scheme visit. 
			 17 June 2006 Lunch with Lord Inge 
			 27 July 2006 Office call with Lord Guthrie 
			 4 December 2006 Dinner with Philip Dunne MP 
			 17 January 2007 Dinner with Keith Simpson MP 
			 21 March 2007 Ex Household Division MP's dinner at Queen's Guard:-Hugo Swire MP, Andrew Robathan MP, Ben Wallace MP, Hugh Robertson MP, Mike Penning MP, David Trevithic MP, and Adam Holloway MP 
		
	
	The above list does not include meetings with Ministers.

Chief of Defence Material

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the claims for expenses made by the Chief of Defence Material since January 2005.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 14 May 2007
	The chief of defence materiel has made no claims for expenses since 2 April 2007, when the post was established.

Departments: Sovereign Strategy

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department held with Sovereign Strategy in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Derek Twigg: There were no departmental meetings between Defence Ministers and Sovereign Strategy between 1997 and 2006, although the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon) met Alan Donnelly, Executive Chairman of Sovereign Strategy, on a number of occasions as they have been personal friends for a number of years. Also Ivor Caplin, a previous Defence Minister, met Alan Davidson, an Assistant Director of Sovereign Strategy, in a private capacity on 25 November 2004.
	Specific data on the number of meetings between MOD officials and Sovereign Strategy is not held centrally within the Department and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ex-servicemen: Medical Treatments

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of medical treatment which have  (a) been delayed and  (b) not been received have been raised by veterans in the last five years.

Derek Twigg: This information is not held by the MOD or its Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPYA). Where a war pensioner raises priority treatment issues with MOD or SPYA, officials investigate and as appropriate take up cases with the relevant health authority.

Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits he has made to servicemen and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan; and how many visits have been made by other Ministers.

Des Browne: holding answer 22 May 2007
	Since 2003, Defence Ministers have made a total of 48 visits to injured service personnel in hospitals in the UK and overseas. Those injured service personnel include servicemen and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The following table shows the number of visits made by each Minister.
	
		
			   Visits 
			 Secretary of State for Defence 19 
			 Minister for the Armed Forces 10 
			 Minister for Defence Equipment and Support 6 
			 Under Secretary of State 13 
		
	
	In addition, Ministers have also visited personnel in the UK once they have returned from operational duty. On some of these occasions Ministers will have met with injured personnel and their families.

Young Adults: Learning Difficulties

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his Department's provision of resources for post-19 education for young adults with severe learning difficulties.

Phil Hope: For young people studying higher education courses there is comprehensive student support available. Disabled students' allowances (DSAs) help meet the additional costs arising from a disability, mental health condition or learning disability. under the Learning and Skills Act (2000) we have a commitment to provide suitable facilities for learners in further education aged 19 onwards. In 2004-05 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) provided almost £1.5 billion to support 640,000 post-16 learners of all ages with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

Adoption

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2007,  Official Report, column 662W, on adoption, what intensive targeted work has been carried out by his Department with local authorities to improve placement stability for children in care; and what assessment he has made of the effect of this work.

Beverley Hughes: Too often, children who stay in care long-term are affected by numerous changes of carer, which impacts on their security and wellbeing, their ability to make and maintain friendships, and their schooling, which is often disrupted as a result. The Department appointed a small team of independent consultants—all former senior managers in social services—to work with 34 local authorities who had a significant contribution to make to the department's PSA target on improving stability for children in long term care. Each local authority received five days' free consultancy to help them develop their own action plans to improve stability. Each authority is also being encouraged to share their learning with others in the same region, and materials are being developed to facilitate this. Telephone consultancy was also offered to 50 more local authorities, if they wished to accept it. The work ended in March this year, and it is therefore too soon to identify the impact it has had on performance.

Education Maintenance Allowance

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people in Easington constituency received  (a) £30,  (b) £20 and  (c) £10 in educational maintenance allowance in each of the last three years.

Bill Rammell: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the DfES and hold the information about take-up and payments made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 15 May 2007:
	I am writing in response to your recent Parliamentary Question that asked:
	"How many young people in Easington constituency have received  (a) £30,  (b) £20 and  (c) £10 in educational maintenance allowance in each of the last three years."
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received education maintenance allowance (EMA) is available at local authority level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	The following table shows EMA take-up data split by payment band for Durham local authority area during each academic year since the scheme's inception.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in each academic year 
			   Durham LA 
			   £30  £20  £10  Total 
			 2004/05 1,838 271 336 2,445 
			 2005/06 3,438 472 458 4,368 
			 2006/07 4,641 574 554 5,769 
		
	
	I hope this information is useful and addresses your question.

Employment Schemes

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many starts on the Entry 2 Employment programme were contracted between the Learning and Skills Council and providers in each county in England for each of the last four years; how many starts there were in each county in each year; and what the percentage difference is between the two figures in each case;
	(2)  when he will reply to Question 131647, on the Entry 2 Employment programme, tabled by the hon. Member for Cheltenham on 29 March 2007.

Jim Knight: holding answer 16 April 2007
	Data on Entry2Employment programme participants is collected on the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The Entry2Employment programme was introduced in the work-based learning ILR collection for the first time in 2002/03 and figures are presented from that time.
	The following table shows the number of starts on the Entry2Employment programme in each local Learning and Skills Council area—this data is not currently available by county.
	We are unable to provide figures on the number of starts contracted between LSC and providers, and the difference between the number of actual and contracted starts, because data on contracted starts is not collected. Contracts are for places rather than starts; a provider may be contracted to fill 30 places but these 30 places may be filled by 70 or more young people during the year.
	
		
			  Volume of E2E starts by local LSC area 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06 
			 Derbyshire 1,510 1,110 1,610 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,580 830 920 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 680 530 470 
			 Leicestershire 720 520 800 
			 Northamptonshire 870 620 680 
			 Norfolk 950 550 700 
			 Cambridgeshire 550 520 580 
			 Suffolk 610 460 570 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton 530 510 540 
			 Hertfordshire 800 640 710 
			 Essex 1,730 1,300 1,550 
			 London - North 850 820 740 
			 London - West 780 640 650 
			 London - Central 2,340 1,950 1,910 
			 London - East 1,820 1,690 1,760 
			 London - South 1,370 1,000 1,010 
			 Northumberland 420 470 420 
			 Tyne and Wear 2,410 2,260 1,840 
			 County Durham 880 770 780 
			 Tees Valley 1,360 1,390 1,300 
			 Cumbria 860 660 720 
			 Lancashire 2,100 1,940 1,840 
			 Greater Merseyside 3,980 3,300 3,090 
			 Greater Manchester 3,540 3,300 3,290 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 580 520 520 
			 Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 1,040 890 910 
			 Berkshire 320 350 350 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,500 1,560 1,560 
			 Surrey 270 330 320 
			 Sussex 650 920 550 
			 Kent and Medway 1,210 1,210 1,320 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,600 1,020 1,170 
			 Somerset 450 340 290 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 600 530 540 
			 West of England 980 1,050 960 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 380 380 310 
			 Gloucestershire 1,050 740 590 
			 Shropshire 910 670 550 
			 Staffordshire 1,510 1,520 1,240 
			 The Black Country 1,960 1,680 1,240 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 1,880 1,880 1,770 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 610 540 550 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 1,340 930 880 
			 North Yorkshire 440 320 260 
			 West Yorkshire 3,720 2,780 2,700 
			 South Yorkshire 2,070 1,700 1,610 
			 Humberside 1,390 1,230 1,380 
			 England 59,680 50,830 50,030 
			  Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Individualised Learner Record

Schools: Health

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the PA consulting review of the Healthy Schools programme;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the  (a) number and  (b) percentage of schools which are participating in the National Healthy Schools programme; what proportion of them have achieved National Healthy School status; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The PA consulting review of the National Healthy Schools programme was a short exercise conducted for internal purposes, and to help steer our planned three-year research into the impact of the programme on promoting healthier lifestyle in schools. We do plan to place a copy of the review in the House of Commons Library in the coming month.
	From September 2005, we had incorporated a more rigorous approach to the National Healthy Schools programme. Schools will have to meet criteria in all four core themes to satisfy the requirements of National Healthy Schools Status.
	As at 21 May 2007, 20,256 (88.8 per cent.) schools are participating in the programme with 7,307 (32.3 per cent.) schools having achieved National Healthy schools status.

Young People: London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people in London are not in education, employment or training; what steps are being taken to reduce this number; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	There are 1,076,350 people of working age who are not in employment, education or training in the London Government office region in October to December 2006. The total number of people on out of work benefits in London has fallen by 106,300 since 1997.
	Some of these people will have chosen not to be in employment or education. However, for the rest, we have a range of policies on employment and education to provide them with opportunities.
	To help us achieve our aim of reaching an 80 per cent. employment rate, we have set ourselves the aspiration of a million fewer people on incapacity benefits in a decade. The Welfare Reform Bill enabling us to achieve this has just passed through parliament.
	We will be rolling out our successful Pathways to Work across the capital in 2008, and will also shortly begin testing our new City Strategy which will focus on those areas where benefit receipt, social exclusion and poverty are most concentrated. Two of the pathfinder areas for the strategy are in London.

Africa: Teachers

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the average cost is of training  (a) local and  (b) UK-based (i) teachers and (ii) doctors to work in developing African countries.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 23 May 2007
	The average costs for training doctors and teachers in Africa are not collected by the main international databases (e.g. UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring report) due to the difficulty in tracking the wide variety of different training programmes and initiatives across Africa as well as poor data quality.
	However, the World Health Organization estimated in 2006 that globally, health budgets will have to increase by at least US$10 per person per year by 2025, to educate and pay the salaries of the four million health workers needed in the 57 countries with severe shortages. Most of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
	According to the UK Department for Health, the cost of training a doctor to full registration including the first year of working in the NHS is between £200,000 and £250,000. This does not include costs of post graduate training as this is far highly variable and difficult to arrive at a meaningful average.
	According to the UK Department for Education and Skills—Training and Development Agency (TDA) the cost of training a teacher in the UK can range from £4,500 to £19,000 with an average cost of approximately £12,000. It should be noted that this average uses the total funds paid by the TDA for an academic year and the total number of registered teachers. The figure is therefore only indicative as there are numerous different routes into teaching within the UK.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was allocated to Burma in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07, broken down by main budget heading; and what conditions were attached to such aid.

Gareth Thomas: In 2005-06 DFID aid to Burma was £6.4 million, of which:
	£4.5 million was on HIV/AIDS, Communicable Diseases and Basic Health Care;
	£0.6 million was for Food Security and Rural Livelihoods;
	£1.0 million was for Internally Displaced People and Refugees;
	£60,000 was for Democracy and Human Rights.
	2006-07 official figures are not yet available, the budget for DFID aid to Burma was £8.0 million, of which:
	£4.3 million was on HIV/AIDS, Communicable Diseases and Basic Health Care;
	£1.2 million was for Food Security and Rural Livelihoods;
	£1.1 million was for Internally Displaced People and Refugees;
	£1.4 million was on Education;
	£70,000 was for Democracy and Human Rights.
	DFID has recently approved a programme of £3 million over three years specifically to support work on democratic change at the local level. The programme will start during 2007-08.
	The conditions which European Union member states have agreed to apply to their aid is defined by the European Union Common Position, Article 3, which states that:
	"Non-humanitarian aid or development programmes shall be suspended. Exceptions shall be made for projects and programmes in support of:
	(a) human rights, democracy, good governance, conflict prevention and building the capacity of civil society;
	(b) health and education, poverty alleviation and in particular the provision of basic needs and livelihoods for the poorest and most vulnerable populations;
	(c) environmental protection and, in particular, programmes addressing the problem of non-sustainable, excessive logging resulting in deforestation.
	The projects and programmes should be implemented through UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, and through decentralised cooperation with local civilian administrations. In this context, the European Union will continue to engage with the government of Burma over its responsibility to make greater efforts to attain the UN millennium development goals.
	Projects and programmes should, as far as possible, be defined, monitored, run and evaluated in consultation with civil society and all democratic groups, including the National League for Democracy."

Democratic Republic of Congo: Overseas Aid

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid the Government gave directly to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in each of the last 10 years.

Hilary Benn: The Government provided debt relief to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) every year between 1996-97 and 2005-06, as shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Debt relief from the British Government to the Government of the DRC 
			   £ 
			 1996-97 1,106,000 
			 1997-98 1,089,000 
			 1998-99 994,000 
			 1999-2000 810,000 
			 2000-01 3,656,000 
			 2001-02 4,704,000 
			 2002-03 2,715,000 
			 2003-04 131,550,976 
			 2004-05 7,377,490 
			 2005-06 390,866 
		
	
	In the financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06, the Department for International Development (DFID) provided financial aid of £500,000 per year to the DRC Ministry of Plan for the preparation of the Government of the DRC's poverty reduction strategy. In 2006-07, DFID committed £324,225 of financial aid to the DRC Ministry of Plan to enable it to carry out a demographic and health survey.
	This aid provided by DFID directly to the Government of the DRC represents a very small fraction of DFID's total bilateral aid to the DRC, which totalled £29.2 million in 2004-05 and £58.8 million in 2005-06.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Tree Felling

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in  (a) Portugal,  (b) Germany and  (c) Belgium on logging concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo held by companies with headquarters based in those countries.

Hilary Benn: I have not held specific discussions with my counterparts in Portugal, Germany and Belgium on logging concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held by companies with headquarters in those countries. However, DFID is working closely with international partners—including Germany and Belgium—to promote sustainable forest use and reduce deforestation in countries like the DRC.
	The German Government have put the reduction of deforestation, to curb carbon emissions, conserve biodiversity, and promote sustainable forest management, on the agenda for the forthcoming G8 summit. The UK strongly supports this initiative and will play a constructive role in agreeing outcomes at the summit. Earlier this year, the Belgian Government, in collaboration with the UK and other partners, hosted an international conference on the sustainable management of forests in the DRC. At this conference, the UK announced a $500,000 contribution to a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to improve forest governance and help promote sustainable forest management in the DRC.
	The UK supports the maintenance of the moratorium on the allocation of new logging concessions in the DRC and the review that is currently being carried out of the legality of existing concessions. When I met the President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, in Kinshasa in April 2007, I stressed the importance of forests as a resource for the people of DRC. I asked whether logging concessions found to be illegal by the Legal Review would be revoked, and President Kabila confirmed that they would.

Developing Countries: Sanitation

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of developing water and sanitation projects in developing countries through the privatisation of those systems.

Hilary Benn: DFID has funded a number of studies into how private sector participation might support poor people and help them access basic services all of which draw on extensive external research. These include the study by WELL, the network of resource centres at Loughborough university, into private sector participation and its impact in improving affordable access to water and sanitation for the poor in developing countries.
	The track record of the private sector delivering water in developing countries has been mixed—and it is important that lessons are learnt along the way. In Cochabamba, Bolivia, the failure of private sector water provision led to rioting and the cancellation of the contract with the private provider. In Mozambique, on the other hand, reforms which began in 1994 have ushered in a new era with the introduction of private sector management, cost recovery tariffs and better regulation. A new public-private partnership, whereby assets remain state owned but operations are privately managed, has helped about 70 per cent. of the urban population of Mozambique benefit from better water supply and improved sanitation.
	In Senegal, private sector involvement since 1995 has helped about 1.6 million people living in Dakar and secondary cities to gain access to safe water. An innovative public-private partnership has helped make over 140,000 new connections for poor families at subsidized rates, and household water connections reached 76 per cent. of the population by 2006. Senegal's level of connection to urban water services is now the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Sanitation also improved in urban areas, with 830,000 people getting access to sewerage connections or new toilets and latrines. Our conclusion is to support what works—and what works vary from country to country and region to region.
	Through our support of the multi-donor Public Private Initiative Advisory Facility (PPIAF), we helped fund the publication of "Improving Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Utilities in Developing Countries: Drawing the Lessons of the Last Decade of Private Sector Participation and Expanding its Scope". This draws on lessons from a decade of water projects with private participation. It consolidates the wealth of material available into a comprehensive paper, and provides a basis for building consensus with stakeholders.
	However, we agree with the conclusions of the United Nations' recent Human Development Report that the criterion for assessing policy should not be whether it is public or private but what its effect is on the poor. These studies are vitally important, but a blanket approach applied to all assessments does not work because circumstances vary greatly from region to region and country to country and we have to respond to the specifics of each request.
	The public sector continues to play the leading role in providing water and sanitation throughout the world. Most of DFID's aid—about 95 per cent. of our bilateral country programme expenditure on water and sanitation—supports the delivery of water and sanitation through governments, not-for-profit or humanitarian agencies.
	Our bilateral support for international private sector participation in the water and sanitation sector has been limited, often focused, on helping developing country governments improve regulation for the benefit of poor people. One example where we were asked to help was in Ghana, where we supported a national assessment to examine the regulation of the sector and make recommendations about how services can work better for poor people.

EC Aid

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how the effectiveness of money spent through the European Communities Development Programme is  (a) monitored and  (b) audited; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The EC development programme includes funding through the European Development Fund, the Development Co-operation Instrument and the European Neighbourhood Instrument. The effectiveness of the development programme is assessed at many levels.
	There are four main opportunities to monitor and/or audit the funds:
	(a) Management Committees—Management Committees exist for all of the main development instruments. They provide member states with oversight and approval of major spending decisions, including country strategy papers and associated annual action plans. Evaluation reports, including on the mid-term and end of term reviews of country programmes, are presented to member states at these committees for discussion and approval. These documents are also shared with the European Parliament.
	(b) Results orientated monitoring—the Commission has developed a results orientated monitoring (ROM) process. This system is based on regular onsite assessments by independent experts of ongoing projects and programmes. The projects/ programmes evaluated are assessed against criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.
	(c) Annual report on the European Community's Development Policy and Implementation of External Assistance—this is published by the Commission in the summer of each year. It includes the results of the ROM process as well as detail on the breakdown of financial assistance by sector, region and type of aid (for example, project or budgetary support). It also provides information on commitment and disbursement levels. The annual report is presented to EU member states and European Parliament for discussion and adoption.
	(d) Annual auditing of EU Budget—The EU's annual accounts and resource management are overseen by its external auditor, the European Court of Auditors. The Court of Auditors prepares an annual report for the Council and the European Parliament. The court's main task is to conduct an external, independent audit of the European Communities' annual accounts, including those of the development co-operation programme. Finally, the Court prepares 'special reports' which provide the findings of audits covering specific areas of EC work, such as that on the Environment in Development Co-operation in 2006.

Climate Change: Electricity Generation

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contribution United Kingdom officials or scientists made to the ad hoc working group on Mitigation potentials of policies, measures and technologies of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change, held in Bonn on 15 to 18 May; and whether any specific electricity generation technology was promoted by the United Kingdom.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 21 May 2007
	 UK officials played an active part in the European Union's (EU) preparations for the Bonn United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) Ad-hoc Working Group meeting. During the meeting, the EU presented information on the mitigation potential of the EU as a whole and not as individual member states. In the preparations, the UK did not promote any specific electricity generation technology. The EU's submissions and presentations can be found on the UNFCCC website at:
	www.unfccc.int.

Construction: Sustainable Development

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with  (a) the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry,  (b) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and  (c) the Director of the Office of Government Commerce on sustainable procurement in the building construction sector.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and DEFRA Ministers, have held discussions with many colleagues from other Departments, including DTI, CLG and OGC, on topics such as sustainable procurement in the building construction sector, as part of the wider discussions on combating climate change.

Desalination

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many water desalination plants are  (a) in operation, (b) under construction and  (c) planned in England; and what the (i) location and (ii) company involved is in each case.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1959W. Thames Water's appeal against refusal of planning permission for a proposed desalination plant in the Thames estuary was the subject of a public inquiry in 2006 and the decision on the appeal is currently before the Secretary of State for DEFRA and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. After piloting a desalination plant, South East Water has decided not to pursue desalination yet as a solution for delivering extra water at peak times.

Drinking Water: Chemicals

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much was spent on removing  (a) pesticides and  (b) nitrates from drinking water supplies in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of removing  (a) pesticides and  (b) nitrates from drinking water supplies in each year since 2000.

Ian Pearson: Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. Companies report to Ofwat each year in their June return on their expenditure in various categories.
	Over the five years to 2005-06, companies reported additional capital expenditure of £49 million on reducing pesticides levels and £75 million on reducing nitrate levels in the public water supply (in 2005-06 prices inflated using the retail price index). This is shown for each year since 2000 in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Pesticides  Nitrates 
			 2001-02 8 6 
			 2002-03 6 13 
			 2003-04 3 17 
			 2004-05 1 4 
			 2005-06 31 35 
		
	
	This is the additional capital expenditure on new assets. As part of their base expenditure, companies also maintain the assets installed previously to reduce pesticides and nitrates levels, and also incur the costs of operating these water treatment plants. Ofwat does not collect this information separately.
	Ofwat publishes a summary of its assumptions when setting price limits for each investment period. For 2000-05, the assumed need for capital investment to address exceptional problems of deteriorating raw water quality, the majority of which was for reducing pesticides and nitrate level was £200 million (in 2005-06 prices, inflated using the construction outputs price index). There were changes agreed to this programme with the Drinking Water Inspectorate during the investment period to reflect changes in the risks of failure to meet drinking water standards.
	For 2005-10, Ofwat assumed additional capital expenditure for reducing pesticides levels of £86 million and nitrate levels of £340 million (2005-06 prices, inflated using the construction outputs price index) along with associated operating costs of £8 million each year. These are the additional costs of new treatment or blending plant. The maintenance and operating costs of existing treatment plant are included in the base service provided by the water companies.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the extent of the reduction in  (a) UK and  (b) EU emissions which will result from the first phase of the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme.

Ian Pearson: The approved UK National Allocation Plan (NAP) for Phase I (2005-07) of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is set to deliver carbon dioxide emissions savings of around 65 million tonnes (roughly 8 per cent.) below the projected business-as-usual emissions of the installations covered by the scheme during phase I. The rationale behind emission trading is to ensure that the emission reductions take place where the cost of the reduction is lowest thus lowering the overall costs of tackling climate change. The aforementioned emission reductions referred to may not, therefore, all take place in the UK.
	As phase I has not yet finished, it is difficult to quantify what the overall emission reductions will be across the EU. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and others has suggested that emission reductions (abatement) across the EU resulting from the implementation of EU ETS in 2005 could be somewhere in the region of 50MtCO2 to 200MtCO2. A survey by Point Carbon showed that about two-thirds of the 800 or so EU ETS participants who responded stated they had initiated internal abatement projects as a result of the EU ETS. Another survey for the European Commission conducted by McKinsey and Ecofys also found that the EU ETS is impacting on corporate behaviour. Based on this scheme, CO2 involves a real cost. About half the companies already 'price in' the value of CO2 allowances and over 70 per cent. intend to do so in the future.

Water Supply

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what volume of water in each region was supplied from  (a) watercourses,  (b) aquifers,  (c) reservoirs and  (d) other sources in the last period for which figures are available; what change each figure represents from the previous period for which figures are available; and how demand is expected to change in future years.

Ian Pearson: The data in the following table is taken from the e-Digest of Environmental Statistics, published on the Department's website, and shows an average for the whole year of estimated abstractions expressed in daily amounts (mega litres per day). The data originates from the Environment Agency. Estimated actual abstractions differ from the maximum abstraction permissible under the terms of individual abstraction licences. The level of future abstractions will depend on the extent to which abstractors use their licensed capacity together with that abstracted under new licences granted.
	
		
			  Region  2003  2004  Percentage change 
			  North West
			 Non-tidal surface water 2794 2898 +3.7 
			 Groundwater 342 315 -8.6 
			 Tidal waters 6443 5792 -11 .2 
			 
			  North East
			 Non-tidal surface water 5857 6215 +6.1 
			 Groundwater 471 490 +4.0 
			 Tidal waters 71 74 +4.2 
			 
			  Midlands
			 Non-tidal surface water 4850 4664 -4.0 
			 Groundwater 1119 1047 -6.9 
			 Tidal waters 984 1092 +11.0 
			 
			  Anglian
			 Non-tidal surface water 1558 1546 -0.8 
			 Groundwater 1031 995 -3.6 
			 Tidal waters 5249 5729 +9.1 
			 
			  Thames
			 Non-tidal surface water 3225 3180 -1.4 
			 Groundwater 1631 1562 -4.4 
			 Tidal waters 1208 1208 0.0 
			  Southern
			 Non-tidal surface water 1440 1401 -2.8 
			 Ground water 1316 1260 -4.4 
			 Tidal waters 5078 5453 +7.4 
			 
			  South West
			 Non-tidal surface water 2859 3345 +17.0 
			 Groundwater 565 559 -1.1 
			 Tidal waters 2121 1643 -29.1 
		
	
	Non-tidal surface water includes reservoirs and river abstractions (watercourses).

Water: Conservation

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what measures the Government are  (a) taking and  (b) considering to promote efficiency in the use of water;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to encourage water efficiency in the  (a) domestic and  (b) commercial sector.

Ian Pearson: The Government support a number of initiatives to promote water efficiency in the domestic and commercial sectors. The Water Industry Act 1991 mandates water companies in England and Wales to promote the efficient use of water to their customers. This can include the distribution of free water saving devices, free or subsidised supply pipe leak detection and repair, and free home or business water saving audits. The Water Services Regulation Authority (publicly known as Ofwat) monitors each company's actions annually and expects water companies to take a more active approach when supplies are under pressure.
	Other measures include the establishment of the Water Saving Group, which I chair, including representatives from a range of stakeholder groups. The group aims to encourage the efficient use of water in households and contribute to demand management in the long term.
	To address water efficiency in new housing, Communities and Local Government (CLG) have introduced a code for sustainable homes (CSH). This sets out performance levels and standards, including minimum performance levels for water use.
	In addition, DEFRA and CLG have recently consulted on regulatory options for minimum standards of water efficiency in new homes and commercial buildings. Responses to the consultation will be published in due course. CLG are also reviewing the sustainability of the existing building stock, including water use.
	The Government also support a number of programmes to further sustainable water use by businesses. These include Envirowise and the enhanced capital allowance scheme for water efficient technologies.

Antisocial Behaviour: Retail Trade

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device Mosquito on retail workers under the age of 25 years;
	(2)  what discussions he has held with  (a) audiologists,  (b) radiation experts,  (c) animal rights groups and  (d) trade unions in respect of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device Mosquito;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the  (a) social consequences and  (b) environmental impact of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device Mosquito.

Tony McNulty: holding answer s  30 April 2007
	 My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has not held any discussions with audiologists, radiation experts, animal rights groups or trade unions in respect of the 'Mosquito' device. The device is a commercially available device and is not subject to endorsement by the Home Office.
	As we understand it the Health and Safety Executive has considered the literature available on the Mosquito device in order to determine whether there is any risk to health, either to hearing or other effects, which might be relevant under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Health and Safety Executive concluded that the literature available on very high frequency/ultrasound units of this type did not identify any significant and relevant health effects that may harm children/youths exposed to vhf/ultrasound in the long-term.
	The Health and Safety Executive also considered that in terms of noise exposure in the context of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, and therefore possible implications for persons working in proximity to these units, at the stated output level (for the Mosquito unit) of an A-weighted sound pressure level of 76 dB, for the likely daily duration of exposure, there was not likely to be any risk of an exposed person suffering hearing damage. They concluded that based on the information and evidence available, and while there is the possibility of some short-term subjective effects if the duration of exposure is prolonged, there would appear to be little likelihood of persons exposed to vhf/ultrasound from this device suffering long-term ill health.
	The Home Office has not therefore undertaken any assessment of the social consequences, environmental impact or consequences of the Mosquito device on retail workers under the age of 25.

Crime Prevention: NHS

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many representatives of NHS acute trusts sit on crime and disorder reduction partnerships in  (a) England and  (b) the West Midlands region;
	(2)  if he will take steps to ensure that accident and emergency departments play a greater role in crime and disorder reduction partnerships;
	(3)  what role accident and emergency departments play in crime and disorder reduction partnerships; and what assessment he has made of their effectiveness in that role.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer s 21 May 2007
	The Government recognise that the national health service can both contribute to and benefit from local actions to tackle crime and disorder. To that end, NHS trusts, including NHS acute trusts, which incorporate accident and emergency departments, have co-operating bodies' status within Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). This means that representatives from bodies with this status are encouraged to attend CDRP meetings, for example when they have been specifically identified as leading or supporting responsible authority members in achieving the community safety objectives identified by the Partnership.
	While the Home Office measures the outcomes delivered by individual CDRPs (for example, trends in crime) information on the operational arrangements of individual partnerships is not held centrally, neither has any formal assessment been made of the role of individual partner agencies.

National Offenders Management Service

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) consultants and  (b) interim managers have been employed by (i) the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and (ii) his Department to work in or for NOMS; what the cost of employing such people was in each month since NOMS was established; and what aspect of the work of NOMS each was retained for.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	The number of consultants NOMS has employed during the period February 2006 to end February 2007 is 79.
	
		
			  Purpose for retaining consultants  Number  Contract value (£) 
			 HT 14 1,463,070 
			 IT 15 832,325 
			 Procurement 12 924,475 
			 Project management 38 1,941,990 
			 Total 79 5,161,860 
		
	
	This total represents less than half of a percent of the NOMS Budget.
	The number of interim managers which NOMS has employed during the period February 2006 to end February 2007 is 203.
	
		
			  Purpose for retaining interims  Number  Contract value (£) 
			 Staff substitutes 203 14,721,076 
			 Total 203 14,721,076 
		
	
	This total represents 1.3 per cent. of the NOMS budget.
	It is not possible to provide details of consultants or interim managers engaged for NOMS by the wider Home Office, since such details were not collated centrally during this period. This is likely to be negligible in the context of information provided in the tables.
	We are unable to provide a complete breakdown of the costs on a month-by- month basis, as invoices are not necessarily submitted on this basis as they may be submitted for a piece of work rather than a period of time.

Bank of England: Public Appointments

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration he has given to enhancing the role of Parliament in appointing members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.

Edward Balls: Since the introduction of the Government's monetary policy framework 10 years ago UK inflation has averaged 1.5 per cent. compared with 4.2 per cent. in the preceding decade. The Government continue to monitor all aspects of the framework to ensure it remains at the forefront of international best practice.

Council Housing

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide funding to the Department for Communities and Local Government to enable the same number of council houses to be built each year as in 1967.

John Healey: The 2004 spending review provided increased funding to help deliver an additional 10,000 new social homes a year by 2007-08 compared with 2004-05. The Government recognise that there is still a need to go further and has already stated that it will set out ambitious plans for increasing social housing supply as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review.

Employment: Copeland

Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people in Copeland were recorded as being in full-time employment in the financial year ending  (a) March 1997 and  (b) March 2007;
	(2)  how many women in Copeland were recorded as being in full-time employment in the financial year ending  (a) March 1997 and  (b) March 2007.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 May 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking (i) how many people in Copeland were recorded as being in full-time employment in the financial year ending (a) March 1997 and (b) March 2007 and (ii) how many women in Copeland were recorded as being in full-time employment in the financial year ending (a) March 1997 and (b) March 2007. (138638, 138639)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	Estimates of the number of people in full-time employment, resident in the Copeland constituency, as well as all the other parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain, was provided in an Answer on 3(rd) May 2007, Official Report Volume 459: c olumn 1806W - 1807W, reference 135561.
	There were 6,000 women, aged 16 and over, resident in the Copeland constituency, in full-time employment for the 12 month period ending in February 1997 based on data from the annual local area LFS. The corresponding estimate, for the 12 months ending in September 2006, the latest available data from the APS, was 8,000.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.

Foreign Companies: VAT

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to require UK-based companies to pay value-added tax for transactions undertaken using locations outside the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Government have monitored closely exploitation of the relief by companies making VAT-free supplies from outside the ED, particularly from the Channel Islands. It notes the action already taken by the authorities there to counter such exploitation. In particular we welcome the commitment made by Jersey authorities, in decisions with the Government, to limit the activities of companies continuing to operate on the island, with the associated revenue loss to the Exchequer. The Government remain in discussion with the Guernsey authorities on this issue. It hopes that they will shortly be in a position to make a similar commitment. The Government will continue to keep the situation under close review.

Pay: Nurses

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the saving to the Treasury resulting from phasing the nurses' pay award in 2007; what percentage of the total money supply this saving represents; and what estimated reduction in inflation is predicted as a result of staging nurses' pay in 2007.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 8 May 2007
	The Government aims to strike a balance between the need to pay at levels necessary to recruit, retain and motivate staff, while at the same time ensuring that pay increases do not increase inflationary pressures and are affordable within the overall public finances.
	Wage pressures are one of the factors considered by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England when setting interest rates to meet the inflation target.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage of staff identified as pre-surplus have been re-assigned to  (a) other HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) posts and  (b) other Civil Service posts outside HMRC.

Dawn Primarolo: A total of 688 pre-surplus staff has been recorded centrally as having been re-assigned. This can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Successful in job applications 396 
			 Voluntary re-deployment within HMRC 179 
			 Compulsory re-deployment within HMRC 18 
			 Moved to other Government Departments (voluntary) 95 
		
	
	Pre-surplus is the term used by HMRC to denote those individuals whose post or work is no longer being carried out in a particular location, no longer being done by that office or where such changes are planned in the future. This status is also used for offices and parts of the Department where appropriate.
	As part of the efficiency savings identified under the Gershon and Lyons reviews HMRC is committed to reducing 25,000 posts by 2011 and pre-surplus is one of the main ways in which we are working with staff to identify posts and re-deploy staff either within the Department, to other Government Departments or to work outside the Civil Service.
	There is a great deal of support available to staff who are in this position, including support workshops, dedicated teams to secure future posts, early retirement packages where appropriate, IT solutions etc.

Welfare Tax Credits

Mark Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in  (a) England,  (b) Gloucestershire and  (c) Forest of Dean constituency were paid tax credits in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: New Tax Credits were introduced in April 2003, and are currently in their fifth year of operation.
	Estimates for the number of in-work families with tax credit awards by country, county, and constituency (based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003-04 and 2004-05) are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2003-04 Geographical Analysis" and "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2004-05 Geographical Analysis". These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
	Figures for 2005-06 were published on Tuesday 22 May.

DNA

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1826W, on DNA, on how many occasions DNA data collected by the Child Support Agency was made available to other  (a) Departments,  (b) agencies and  (c) public authorities.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 24 May 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply form the chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3rd May 2007, Official Report, column 1826W, on DNA on how many occasions DNA data collected by the Child Support Agency was made available to other (a) departments (b) agencies and (c) other public authorities.
	The Agency does not collect DNA data; only information concerning whether there has been a referral to a DNA testing company, whether a test was conducted and the outcome of any such tests is stored.
	Neither the Agency nor its contractual supplier of DNA testing facilities routinely discloses any information relating to it s clients to any third party, including other government departments, agencies or other public authorities. Indeed the contract with our supplier of DNA tests contains a confidentiality clause that prohibits the company from disclosing information gathered in the course of its work for the Agency and binds the contractual supplier to the terms of the Official Secrets Act 1911-89 and Section 123 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
	The Agency is careful to conform to all the requirements of the Data Protection Act. The public can be confident that their privacy is assured and any personal information the Agency hold is not disclosed without consent, barring certain exceptional circumstances where disclosure is in the public interest, or to meet statutory requirements. I am not aware of any case in which the Agency has been required to share the results of a DNA test with any party other than those involved in the test.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2007,  Official Report, column 467W, on social security benefits: fraud, if he will list and describe the other techniques referred to; how the caller's voice is recorded using voice risk analysis software if the customer is not present; and whether the Department intends to test the voice risk analysis software with customers  (a) present and  (b) absent.

James Plaskitt: The Department intends to test voice risk analysis software in combination with questions designed to highlight risk factors and identify other inconsistencies in real time telephone conversations.

Criminal Justice Act 2003

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the impact on the conviction rate of those pleading not guilty before the courts of the provisions of sections 100 to 103 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of  (a) the number of contested trials in which, since the commencement of sections 100 to 103 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, evidence of bad character has been admitted,  (b) the number and percentage of those trials which have resulted in conviction and  (c) the percentage of all trials before the courts in which such evidence has been admitted;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the overall effects on the criminal justice system of the implementation of sections 100 to 103 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

David Hanson: Detailed statistics on these matters are not collected routinely. However, following the implementation of Part 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, we have conducted a research project to evaluate the effect of the bad character provisions. The aims of the research are, to determine how frequently applications are made to adduce evidence about the bad character of the defendant and of non-defendants in criminal trials and how frequently applications are granted and refused; to establish how the provisions are being implemented and interpreted by legal practitioners and the courts; to explore what impact the provisions have had upon the balance struck between prosecution and defence interests in criminal trials; to consider to what extent, if any, the provisions have had a differential impact upon defendants or non-defendants from black and minority ethnic groups; and explore whether the provisions have had any impact upon witnesses' willingness to give evidence. This research is currently undergoing a peer review process.

Fines: Victim Support Schemes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much is expected to be received from payments of the Victims Surcharge in financial years  (a) 2007-08,  (b) 2008-09,  (c) 2009-10 and  (d) 2010-11.

Harriet Harman: It is estimated that £15.1 million of surcharge monies will be collected in the first full year of implementation, but this estimate did not explicitly relate to 2007-08. The estimate is expected to remain valid for future years. No estimates have been made for specific financial years.

Fines: Victim Support Schemes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what will happen to money received from payments of the Victims Surcharge.

Harriet Harman: Monies received from the victims surcharge will go to the victims fund that will be dispersed to projects and schemes to support the victims and witnesses of crime.

Social Security Benefits: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what guidance her Department has provided to benefit appeal tribunals on the chronic condition of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Guidance is not issued by any Government Department to Appeal Tribunals on how to approach cases or decide them. Instead, the Department for Work and Pensions has made available to tribunals the disability handbook which contains a section on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Broadband

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what benchmarking exercises his Department has undertaken on the  (a) minimum speed used to define and  (b) availability of broadband in the UK and other European countries; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: In order to maximise resources my Department agreed with Ofcom in June 2005 that we would share research data on  (a) minimum speeds and  (b) availability of broadband. It seemed sensible for Ofcom to lead in light of their responsibilities under the Communications Act 2003.
	Ofcom's report, entitled 'The International Communications Market report' benchmarks the UK's performance against international competitors and allows us to monitor minimum speed and availability of broadband. We also source research and information from other EU and OECD reports. The latest update of Ofcom's 'The International Communications Market 2006' can be found on their website at:
	http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/icmr06/
	Ofcom define the speed of broadband as being "always on" and providing a bandwidth greater than 128kbit/s. OECD data defines the speed of broadband as any connection that has download speeds equal to or faster than 256 Kbit/s.
	My Department did commission two reports from 2002 to 2006, which benchmarked the  (b) availability of broadband in the UK and other European countries. Both are available on the DTI website.
	1. The International and UK Broadband Market Report produced by Ovum. http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29469.pdf International Broadband Market Comparisons Update
	2. The Sophisticated Broadband Services Report produced by Analysys Consulting.
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file29468.pdf Sophisticated Broadband Services Report - May 2006.

Combined Heat and Power: Building Regulations

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on possible amendments to the Building Regulations to include a requirement to install microgeneration technologies in new and refurbished buildings.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Minister for Energy have held regular discussions with the Department of Communities and Local Government on a range of energy issues including the role of Building Regulations in promoting microgeneration.

Utilities: Fees and Charges

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with utility companies on the payment processing charges for customers who do not use direct debit facilities.

Margaret Hodge: I have raised this issue with BT and the chief executive officer of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). BT operates schemes to ensure that vulnerable groups have access to affordable telephone services. BT reassured me that their special tariff schemes are not affected by the increased charges. Ofcom is considering whether the level of the charges across the communications sector raise regulatory issues.
	Telecoms providers and utility providers do mostly apply a price differential between customers who pay by direct debit and those who pay by other means on the basis of increased processing and debt management costs associated with payments not made by direct debit.
	I have not held discussions with other utility suppliers on this issue.

Bus Services: Grants

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the current rates are of the Bus Service Operator's Grant scheme for each fuel type.

Gillian Merron: Bus Service Operators Grant rates are related to the fuel duty levied on the fuel concerned. The current rates, increased with effect from 7 December 2006, by fuel type.
	
		
			   Pence per litre 
			 Ultra low sulphur diesel (1)39.21 
			 Diesel 39.21 
			 Sulphur free diesel 39.21 
			 Ultra low sulphur petrol 36.83 
			 Unleaded petrol 36.83 
			 Sulphur free petrol 36.83 
			 Biodiesel 28.35 
			 Gas (2)10.81 
			 (1 )This rate also applies to a 95 per cent. / 5 per cent. diesel/biodiesel blend (2 )Pence per kilogram

Bus Stations

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus stations there are in England, broken down by  (a) local authority and  (b) passenger transport executive areas.

Gillian Merron: This information is not centrally.

Departments: Consultants

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the outside  (a) agencies and  (b) consultancies which are undertaking work commissioned by his Department; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) cost is of each commission.

Gillian Merron: Details of the outside agencies and consultancies who are currently undertaking work commissioned by the Department is not held centrally and a complete list could be provided only at disproportionate cost. 399 different agencies and consultancies worked for the central Department and its Agencies during financial year 2006-07 on commissions that have been recorded within the Department's accounting systems as consultancy.
	The following are examples of some of the projects undertaken during 2006-07:
	Technical consultancy for a digital tachograph project;
	Study to Review Proposals for an In-Service Testing of Low Emission Diesel Engines;
	Organisational Consultancy for the DVLA Local Office Directorate;
	Advice in Connection with Development of a New DVLA Pay Structure;
	Development of a Business Case for Automatic Number Plate Reader;
	Development of a Business Case for Weigh in Motion Systems;
	Traffic Officer Service Development;
	Development of a Journey Time Reliability Measures;
	Business Improvement Projects;
	Transport Direct;
	Cycling Demonstration Towns - to Measure Cycle Trips.

Departments: Greater London

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's responsibilities are with respect to London; what responsibilities he holds jointly with the Mayor of London; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport provides national leadership across the transport sector, working with regional, local and private sector partners who deliver many of the services.
	The Mayor of London's statutory responsibilities are set out in the Greater London Transport Act 1999. Transport for London (TfL) is responsible for implementing the Mayor's transport strategy. It manages the buses, the underground, the docklands light rail (DLR), Croydon tramline, a 580 kilometre network of main roads, all of London's 4,600 traffic lights and has a strategic role in traffic management. TfL also runs London river services, Victoria coach station, regulates taxis and the private hire trade and runs the dial-a-ride service for those who need door-to-door transport.
	DfT provides a substantial transport grant to TfLover 2.3 billion in 2006-07to support the delivery of its transport objectives.
	The Secretary of State and the Mayor of London, under the Railways Act 2005, have a duty to co-operate with regard to the provision of London rail passenger services.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Gillian Merron: The HM Treasury signed deals list identifies departmental managed projects that are 'on balance sheet'. This is available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/EAF/pfi_signed_projects_list_april_2007.xls
	The balance sheet presentation of Department for Transport 'on balance sheet' PFI projects are as follows:
	
		
			   million 
			  Scheme  2002-04  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 1) 
			 DVLA Estates Rationalisation0.60 2.71 
			 M40 83.53 87.52 96.38 100.84 109.37 
			 A19 56.08 58.76 64.71 67.70 73.43 
			 A30 156.87 164.37 181.02 189.38 205.41 
			 A1(M) 225.59 236.38 260.31 272.35 295.39 
			 A417/A419 117.85 123.49 135.99 142.27 154.31 
			 A50 42.02 44.03 48.49 50.73 55.03 
			 M1-A1 463.86 486.04 535.25 559.99 607.37 
			 A69 22.08 23.14 25.48 26.66 28.92 
			 A1 Darrington to Dishforth74.01 217.57 
			 A249 IWADE 82.96 
			 NRTS 24.24 
			 M6 Toll  91.79 90.16 99.29 111.65 
			 Dartford Crossing 538.89 560.47 573.10 599.06 590.32 
			 Severn Crossing 758.20 787.83 805.64 842.17 875.13 
			 NTCC   46.71 47.03 35.10 
			 (1) Unaudited  Notes: 1. The values shown are at the original public sector comparator costs for the new build component of each contract indexed for each individual year except as described in the following notes. 2. A1 Darrington to Dishforth, A249 and NTCC are valued using the base cost estimate supplied by the concessionaire at the tender stage, indexed for each individual contract. 3. NRTS reflects the value of work completed to date. 4. Severn Crossing reflects the value of both structures and is based on professional valuations indexed for each year. 5. Dartford Crossing reflects the value of the tunnels and the bridge and is based on professional valuations for each year. 6. These valuations are taken from the Highways Agency published accounts and may differ from those published in the Treasury signed deals list, which are valued at the public sector procuring body's estimate of the capital value of the property the private sector purchases or creates for delivering services under a PFI.

Departments: Telephone Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many telephone helplines are sponsored by his Department with the prefix  (a) 0870 and  (b) 0845; and whether alternative geographic numbers are available in each case.

Gillian Merron: The requested details on 0870 and 0845 telephone helplines in the Department for Transport are as follows:
	
		
			   Number of 0845 and 0870 helplines  Services accessed from each  Whether alternative geographic numbers available 
			 Department for Transport (Central) 0   
			 DVLA (1)17 Information services, automated self services, technical helpdesks, reporting unlicensed vehicles No, apart from one general switchboard for public use 
			 DSA (1)4 All related to practical and theory driving test bookings No 
			 HA (2)4 HA information line and central switchboard traffic England phone service and publications Only the 0845 lines have corresponding 0121 numbers 
			 MCA (1)1 MCA Infoline No 
			 VGA 0   
			 VOSA (3)3 Public hotline, operator license credit card payment and national number All also have geographical numbers available as contact numbers 
			 GCDA 0   
			 (1) All 0870. (2) Two are 0845 and two are 0870. (3) One is 0845 and two are 0870.

Galileo Project: Armed Forces

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the number of military users there will be of the Galileo satellite system.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 22 May 2007
	 Galileo remains a civil programme under civil control. This has repeatedly been confirmed by the EU Transport Council; most recently in its October 2006 Council Conclusions. Therefore, no assessment such has been made. However, Galileo's open service, like that of GPS, can be accessed by all and therefore could be used by military forces.

National Roads Telecommunications Services Project

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the  (a) purpose and  (b) budget is of the National Roads Telecommunications Services project.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency's national telecommunications network has reached the end of its useful life, is costly to maintain, needs modernising and has insufficient capacity to meet its future known requirements. The National Roads Telecommunications Project (NRTS) has been developed to remedy this.
	The existing networks transmit messages between the Agency's regional control centres and 14,000 devices on the roadside such as CCTV cameras and variable messages signs. The 32 networks have been built over the last thirty years to the Agency's bespoke designs. The NRTS project is to upgrade those existing transmission networks and to combine them into one. As well as providing additional capacity, the new digital network provides resilience: using internet technology, messages will automatically re-route following any break in the network. The new technology is freely available in the market-place, making it easier to maintain.
	An end-to-end capability across the whole of England gives the network operator single point responsibility and a 10 year contract incentivises him to consider the whole life costs and to consider the whole of the network when planning improvements .
	The committed cost is 490 million.

Railways: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage increase in  (a) capacity and  (b) seats on trains from Milton Keynes are expected to result from the introduction of the new platform at that station.

Tom Harris: The enlarged station at Milton Keynes Central station enables a 33 per cent. increase in the number of long distance services compared with a situation if the station had not been improved. Seating capacity is also likely to increase by a similar percentage.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cost increases he approved for Government-funded Road schemes in the Local Transport Plans programme in each year since 2000.

Gillian Merron: Details of Local Authority Major Road schemes that have had cost increases approved between 2000 and July 2006 are available in Appendix Three of the National Audit Office reportDepartment for Transport: Estimating and Monitoring the Costs of Building Roads in Englandpublished on 15 March 2007. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the following website link:
	http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/06-07/060732l.pdf
	Since July 2006, we have also approved cost increases on the following Local Major Road schemes:
	Rugby Western Relief Road
	Owen Street Level Crossing Relief Road
	Sheffield Northern Inner Relief Road
	Sunderland Southern Radial Route
	Glasshoughton Coalfields Link Road
	Brierley Hill Access Network
	M4 Junction 11/Mereoak Roundabout
	Hemsworth to A1 Link Road
	A688 Wheatley Hill to Bowburn Link Road
	Taunton Third Way and Northern Inner Distributor Road
	Carlisle Northern Development Route.

Wolverton Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why a deadline has been set on when the grant of 400,000 for the upgrade of Wolverton Station must be spent.

Tom Harris: The deadline for the use of grants, provided under the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF), was one of the conditions made clear at the start of the process, taking account of the overall availability of Government support, in each financial year, for transport related projects.

Wolverton Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what effect the recent reduction in funding for the upgrade of station facilities at Wolverton Station will have on the project.

Tom Harris: There has been no reduction in funding. The allocation of funding within the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) grant was matter for Milton Keynes council to determine in conjunction with Network Rail.

Wolverton Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons were for the reduction in funds for the planned upgrade of Wolverton Station.

Tom Harris: There has been no reduction in funding. The allocation of funds awarded under a bid, from the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF), for Milton Keynes Central and Wolverton stations was the responsibility of Milton Keynes council.

BBC External Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money the BBC World Service spent on services in each language in which it broadcasts  (a) from her Department's precept and  (b) in total in each of the last three financial years.

Geoff Hoon: BBC World Service (BBCWS) analysis of its spending for each language service in financial year (FY) 2006-07 is set out below. Foreign and Commonwealth Office grant-in-aid funds all BBCWS language services. BBCWS is unable to present comparable data for the previous years requested by the hon. Member because of changes in accounting procedures, specifically the way its central costs are allocated. To provide figures that are both meaningful and comparable would require a comprehensive reworking of its financial information for previous years. This would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  BBCWS analysis of Operating grant-in-aid 2006-07 
			million 
			  Africa and Middle East 
			 French For Africa 1.8 
			 African English 3.3 
			 Great Lakes 0.4 
			 Hausa Service 0.9 
			 Portuguese 0.7 
			 Somali 0.7 
			 Swahili 1.0 
			 Arabic (TV budget shown separately) 8.9 
			  Americas and Europe 
			 Brazilian 1.7 
			 Latin American 3.8 
			 Caribbean 0.4 
			 Albanian 1.1 
			 Romanian 1.3 
			 Macedonian 0.4 
			 Serbian 1.1 
			 Turkish 1.0 
			 Ukrainian 1.2 
			 Russian 4.6 
			   
			  Asia Pacific 
			 Chinese 3.2 
			 Bengali 0.9 
			 Hindi 1.6 
			 Nepali 0.3 
			 Sinhala 0.3 
			 Tamil 0.3 
			 Urdu 3.0 
			 Burmese 0.7 
			 Indonesian 1.2 
			 Vietnamese 0.7 
			 Uzbek 0.6 
			 Azeri 0.6 
			 Kazakh 0.1 
			 Kyrgyz 0.2 
			 Persian/Pashto 5.8 
			 Total 53.7 
			   
			 Arabic TV (rising to 19 million in FY 2007-08) 9.0 
			   
			 English production, presentation and commissioning 48.7 
			 Transmission 37.8 
			 New Media 8.5 
			 Finance, Property and provisions (including redundancy) 26.1 
			 Marketing 6.2 
			 Technology support 13.3 
			 HR and Training 4.4 
			 Direction, Strategy and other 4.3 
			   
			 Total expenditure 212.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Grant-in-aid 2006-07 
			   million 
			   Operating  Capital  Total 
			 Grant in aid 2005-06 208.1 31 239.1 
			 Additional funding from SR2004 6.5 0 6.5 
			 Vires from capital (ex 31 million total capital grant) 3.5 -3.5 0.0 
			 BBC Monitoring Transfer to Cabinet Office -6.1 0 -6.1 
			  212.0 27.5 239.5

Departments: Languages

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how her Department will determine which language providers to use under the new language teaching business model.

Geoff Hoon: A procurement team will oversee the purchasing of language training from new suppliers in accordance with government guidelines during the tendering and evaluation process. Our objective is to set up a framework agreement with at least two possible suppliers for each foreign language. Maintaining a high standard of language training will be a priority.
	To ensure high quality we will build into the contract specification rigorous standards and processes, covering academic calibre of staff; teaching methodology; range and depth of programmes; external accreditation and recognition of widely known benchmark standards; and customer-focused administrative and learning resource support. Quality assurance mechanisms will monitor that standards are being met, including through briefing, training and performance management of teachers and continuous assessment of students.

Departments: Languages

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental staff were trained in a foreign language in each of the last three years for which figures are available; in how many languages training was available in each year; and what proportion of training was carried out overseas in each year.

Geoff Hoon: The number of staff receiving language training was:
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of staff 
			 2006-07 252 
			 2005-06 386 
			 2004-05 405 
		
	
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has permanent teachers in 14 languages:
	Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish.
	The FCO also employs lecturers on a flexible basis in a further 27 languages:
	Arabic, Bulgarian, Bosnian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
	The FCO had no in house teaching capability in eight of the 22 FCO priority languages;
	Pashtu, Dari, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese, Urdu, Cantonese and Thai: training in these languages was outsourced.
	The proportion of training carried out overseas varies according to the difficulty of the language. Easier languages will normally include a period of around four weeks in country; the most difficult languages have one year training in the UK and one year training in-country.

Embassies: Telephone Services

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what revenue was received by her Department from the telephone inquiries lines at British embassies handled by ABTRON in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) received no income from the telephone inquiry lines handled by Abtran Ltd in the last 12 months. The service the company provides is self-funding and the surplus they make enables them to run it at no cost to the FCO.

Entry Clearances

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she expects UK Visas to respond to the letter from Mr Richard Helgesen (ref GV100/115242/PC).

Kim Howells: UK visas sent an initial response to Mr Richard Helgesen's letter on 14 May. The letter explained that they need to make further enquiries before they can provide Mr Helgesen with a full reply.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the new air terminal development on the relationship between Spain and Gibraltar.

Geoff Hoon: The construction of a new airport terminal by the Gibraltar government forms part of the arrangements agreed in the Cordoba Ministerial Statement on Gibraltar airport on 18 September 2006 under the Trilateral Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar.
	The Cordoba trilateral agreements, including the proposed new terminal, have already brought significant benefits, including more connections from Gibraltar airport, greatly improved border flows, recognition of Gibraltar's international dialling code and mobile roaming, as well as a settlement of the long-standing issue of the pensions of former Spanish workers in Gibraltar. Overall, this has brought a considerable improvement in the relationship between Spain and Gibraltar.

Gulf War

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1354, on the Gulf War, whether any assessment has been made of the administration system used for the UN Compensation Commission Iraq compensation awards.

Kim Howells: The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) claims processing procedures were prescribed by the Security Council and were further elaborated by the Governing Council in a number of decisions. The procedures were implemented by panels of Commissioners whose recommendations for awards were approved by the UNCC's Governing Council. Further details of the claims processing procedures can be found at the UNCC's website:
	http://www.unog.ch/uncc/.
	The Government have not made any formal assessment of the administration system used by the UNCC. However, we understand that overpayments were made for a variety of reasons such as claims being submitted twice by the same applicant. Other claims were paid out twice to the same claimant because they featured in different claims categories due to administrative errors at the UNCC.

Gulf War

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1354, on the Gulf War, what factors informed the decision to use Iraqi oil revenues to pay for UN Compensation Commission-approved compensation awards; and when that decision was taken.

Kim Howells: The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) was established in 1991 by Security Council Resolution 687 to process claims and pay compensation for losses suffered as a result of the 1990 Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
	Currently 5 per cent. of the proceeds of Iraq's oil export revenues are paid into the Compensation Fund. The use of these oil revenues was recommended by the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council in 1991 as the method by which Iraq should pay compensation.

Gulf War

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1354, on the Gulf War, what explanation has been given by the UN Compensation Commission for errors made in the calculation and payment of compensation relating to Iraq.

Kim Howells: In 2006 the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) conducted an internal investigation aimed at identifying potential overpayments resulting from multiple or overlapping claims.
	We understand that the overpayments occurred for a variety of reasons. Some resulted from claims that were erroneously submitted twice by the same claimant. Other claims were paid out twice to the same claimant because they featured in different claims categories due to administrative errors at the UNCC.

Gulf War

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1354, on the Gulf War, what the total amount in dispute is on the UN Compensation Commission awards which have been approved but have not been paid or are being reclaimed.

Kim Howells: Corrections made as a result of the investigation into overpayments totalled US$ 80.3 million of which US$ 72.7 million remains still to be recovered. Approximately US$ 39 million of this sum will be recoverable by way of set-offs against Government awards not yet paid out. 113 UK claimants were overpaid a total of US$ 391,000.

Iraq: International Conferences

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the recent International Conference on Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I warmly welcome the successful launch of the International Compact and the expanded Iraq Neighbours Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on 3-4 May.
	The launch of the International Compact was an important opportunity for the Government of Iraq to set out its reform agenda. Over 60 countries were represented and offered their support. We now look forward to the UN and Government of Iraq establishing a mechanism to monitor progress.
	The neighbours conference was a significant step in building Iraq's relationship with its neighbours. Participants agreed that there should be a further ministerial in Istanbul; working groups to explore co-ordination and co-operation on the problem of refugees, security and borders, and fuel imports; and, subject to approval by the Government of Iraq, the establishment of a group of senior officials to monitor progress. We will encourage all participants to use these forums constructively and to demonstrate tangible support for the Government of Iraq.

Iraq: Security Guards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how many contraventions of Coalition Provisional Authority memorandum number 17 by private military companies operating in Iraq there were in each year since it came into force, broken down by type of contravention;
	(2)  how many individuals in Iraq were killed by employees of  (a) UK-registered and  (b) other private military companies in each year since the invasion.

Kim Howells: holding answer 22 May 2007
	We keep records only of incidents involving private military security companies (PMSCs) working directly for the Government. We do not keep records of incidents involving other UK mainland registered companies or foreign companies working in Iraq.
	The PMSCs which operate or have operated for the Government in Iraq (ArmorGroup, GardaWorld and Control Risks Group) have been responsible for no contraventions of Coalition Provisional Authority Memorandum Number 17. There has been one Iraqi fatality as a result of a road traffic accident in Erbil on 8 March. A pedestrian was struck by a PMSC vehicle while crossing a busy road in heavy traffic. The incident was fully investigated by the local authorities and no charges were bought.

Iraq-Kuwait Conflict: Compensation

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will raise the issue of interest accrued during delays in the payment by the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) of compensation relating to detention of UK nationals in Iraq during the first Gulf war at the next meeting of the UNCC's Governing Council.

Kim Howells: A decision has already been taken by the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) Governing Council at its 55th session in March 2005 that interest will not be paid by the UNCC to claimants on top of their principal awards. This decision was made for a variety of reasons, including the fact that assumptions made about the capacity of the Compensation Fund (its revenue generated from Iraqi petroleum exports earnings) did not materialise, which resulted in inadequate funds being available, and the estimated projection that payment of all principal awards would not be completed until 2045.
	The decision was taken against the background of the need for Iraqi oil proceeds to be used towards reconstruction of Iraq. Payment of interest would place an additional and unacceptable financial burden on the Iraqi people.
	A letter was sent by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to all UK claimants in March 2005 explaining the decision taken on the question of interest by the governing council.

Krishna Maharaj

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information she has on the date of the next hearing on the application for clemency on behalf of Kirshna Maharaj; and if she will arrange for a representative of her Department to be present at the hearing.

Ian McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today (UIN 139180).

Migrant Workers: Foreign Students

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many foreign students received visas to enter the United Kingdom to work as seasonal workers in agriculture in each of the last 10 years, broken down by nation and region of origin; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The following table displays the number of visas issued to non-EU students who applied to enter the United Kingdom to work as seasonal agricultural workers, from 2002 to 2006. The results are broken down according to the location of our missions overseas (country and region). There are no available reliable UKvisas statistics for applications made prior to 2002.
	
		
			  Region  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Australia and South Pacific 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Central Europe and former Soviet Union 416 914 2,162 10307 14,248 
			 Albania 0 0 110 106 46 
			 Armenia 0 0 7 31 73 
			 Bulgaria 1 0 0 2,301 3,362 
			 Belarus 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Croatia 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Czech Republic 10 19 8 5 1 
			 Estonia 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Georgia 0 0 67 110 85 
			 Hungary 0 0 5 0 2 
			 Kazakhstan 19 0 3 1 0 
			 Latvia 16 3 1 0 1 
			 Lithuania 0 3 0 2 0 
			 Macedonia 97 56 55 54 125 
			 Moldova 0 0 40 911 857 
			 Romania 243 0 0 317 1,940 
			 Russia 30 753 1,838 2,347 2,548 
			 Serbia 0 0 21 44 88 
			 Slovakia 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Turkmenistan 0 0 6 14 6 
			 Ukraine 0 80 0 4,060 5,112 
			   
			 Equatorial Africa 1 0 0 8 19 
			 Ghana 1 0 0 7 19 
			 Nigeria 0 0 0 1 0 
			   
			 Far East 41 86 5 1 0 
			 China 41 41 0 0 0 
			 Mongolia 0 45 5 1 0 
			   
			 Latin America 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Middle East 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 North America 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 North and North East Africa 2 0 0 2 2 
			 Egypt 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Tunisia 2 0 0 2 0 
			   
			 South Asia 4 46 30 0 0 
			 India 4 46 30 0 0 
			   
			 South East Asia 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Southern Africa 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Southern Europe 52 120 19 68 24 
			 Cyprus 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Portugal 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Turkey 51 120 18 68 24 
			   
			 West Indies and Atlantic 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Western Europe 0 0 1 3 1 
			 Austria 0 0 1 2 0 
			 Germany 0 0 0 1 1 
			   
			 Total 516 1,166 2,217 10,389 14,294 
			  Note: UKvisas makes every effort to ensure that statistics produced from our 'Central Reference System' are accurate. However, the complexity of our global business, including technical failures or occasional inconsistencies in data entry across any of over 150 offices, means we cannot 100 per cent. guarantee accuracy.  Source: CRS 2002-03 data sourced on: 17 May 2007 2004-06 data sourced on: 16 May 2007

Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she received from other states party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at the preparatory committee meeting for the next review conference of the Treaty on the UK's compliance with Article 6 of the Treaty.

Kim Howells: No formal representations were made to the UK by other states party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the NPT Preparatory Committee on compliance by the UK with Article VI of the Treaty. Of the many national and group statements made to the plenary session of the PrepCom, only Iran's directly questioned the UK's compliance with Article VI.

Russia: Estonia

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of Russia's action in relation to Estonia since the relocation of the Russian war memorial statue; and what representation she has made to the Russian authorities on this subject.

Geoff Hoon: The Government recognises the right of the Estonian Government to relocate war memorials and war graves and sees this as an internal matter for Estonia. My right. hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was briefed on Estonian-Russian relations by Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 May. Russian-Estonian relations were discussed at the EU-Russia Summit on 18 May.
	The Government supports the remarks made by the president of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, at the EU-Russia summit that the EU is based on principles of solidarity and difficulties for one member state constitute a difficulty for the entire EU. We are fully supportive of both the EU presidency statement of 2 May and the NATO statement of 3 May, which both expressed grave concern over the safety of the Estonian Embassy and its staff in Russia and urged Russia to address the dispute through dialogue.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of the recent treatment of students and staff at Jaffa university, Sri Lanka, by the Sri Lankan army; and what discussions she has had  (a) with the Sri Lankan Government and  (b) at a European level on the behaviour of the Sri Lankan army towards civilians.

Kim Howells: We are aware of the reports of harassment on the campus of Jaffha university and of allegations of the involvement of paramilitaries and members of the Sri Lankan armed forces in these incidents. Continuing reports of abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Sri Lanka are a matter of serious concern.
	As I told the House on 2 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1551-1557 during the debate on Sri Lanka, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have made the UK position clear to the Government of Sri Lanka. There has to be an end to the culture of impunity. Those responsible for human rights violations should be brought to justice. We have welcomed the establishment of a President's Commission and of an Eminent Persons' Group to observe the work of the Commission. We shall continue to raise our concerns with the Sri Lankan Government. At the same time, we shall continue to highlight the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's shameful human rights record.
	We play an active role in helping to shape EU policy on Sri Lanka. Concerns over human rights figure prominently in EU policy discussions on Sri Lanka.

Switzerland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to improve British-Swiss relations.

Geoff Hoon: The UK and Switzerland enjoy an excellent bilateral relationship with regular dialogue involving British and Swiss Ministers, ambassadors, parliamentarians and officials. High level British visits to Switzerland are frequent, an example being the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos in January, which was attended by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and several other Government Ministers. We also share many strategic priorities with the Swiss, such as action on climate change, and foreign policy concerns, such as a successful settlement for Kosovo. We enjoy excellent trade relations with Switzerland. In 2006, Switzerland was the UK's 2nd largest non-EU market after the US, with goods exports totalling almost 4 billion. Switzerland is the sixth largest investor in the UK, with Swiss companies estimated to provide over 100,000 UK jobs.

Tamils

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will hold discussions with her Sri Lanka counterpart on  (a) securing legal protection for the Tamil language and Tamil Eelam region in the North East of Sri Lanka and  (b) the representation of the Tamil people in the Sri Lankan parliament; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: holding answer 22 May 2007
	In our regular discussions with the Sri Lankan government, we make clear our strong belief that peace must be pursued through political means. We emphasise the need for them to set out a credible framework for a negotiated settlement, which could satisfy the legitimate demands of all communities and promote the full observance of human rights in Sri Lanka.

Cancer: Drugs

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the efficacy of dichloroacetate in destroying cancer cells; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) on 16 April 2007,  Official Report, column 324W.

Dental Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists operating under  (a) general dental services contracts and  (b) personal dental services agreements left the NHS in each year since 1997-98; and what percentage these figures represent of the number of dentists in the NHS (i) in total and (ii) in each strategic health authority area.

Rosie Winterton: The latest information available is set out in the following tables. Information is not available broken down by general dental services and personal dental services and could be provided in that format only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): Number of complete leavers, and as a percentage of total dentists, in England by strategic health authority (SHA) area as at 31 March each year 
			   1998  1999  2000  2001  2002 
			   Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists 
			 England 915 5 956 5 1,033 6 1,208 7 1,191 6 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 50 6 40 5 56 6 58 6 69 7 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 39 6 34 5 39 5 34 5 39 5 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 25 4 38 5 33 5 48 6 33 4 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 38 4 48 5 45 5 44 5 57 6 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 16 4 20 5 19 5 20 5 19 5 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 31 5 28 4 33 5 49 7 25 4 
			 Dorset and Somerset 20 5 17 4 30 7 23 5 33 7 
			 Essex 27 5 32 6 31 5 52 9 50 9 
			 Greater Manchester 51 6 39 4 52 6 45 5 43 5 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 26 4 31 5 33 5 50 7 43 6 
			 Kent and Medway 51 9 54 9 50 8 51 8 45 7 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 20 5 22 5 17 4 41 9 28 6 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 43 6 38 5 49 6 50 6 37 5 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 26 5 24 5 28 5 26 5 23 4 
			 North Central London 44 7 59 9 43 6 56 8 70 10 
			 North East London 30 5 41 7 31 5 38 6 43 7 
			 North West London 38 4 60 6 72 6 86 8 77 7 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 24 5 30 6 34 7 30 6 29 6 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 22 5 17 4 13 3 18 4 25 5 
			 South East London 41 7 47 7 40 6 53 8 60 9 
			 South West London 39 6 44 7 45 7 63 9 46 7 
			 South West Peninsula 33 6 37 6 42 7 40 6 56 8 
			 South Yorkshire 12 3 15 3 11 2 25 5 25 5 
			 Surrey and Sussex 63 6 58 5 63 5 78 6 74 6 
			 Thames Valley 48 6 36 4 46 5 48 5 53 6 
			 Trent 39 5 40 5 54 6 51 6 53 6 
			 West Midlands South 17 3 25 5 23 4 35 6 35 6 
			 West Yorkshire 24 3 31 4 34 5 31 4 38 5 
		
	
	
		
			   2003  2004  2005  2006 
			   Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists  Complete leavers  % of total dentists 
			 England 1,233 7 1,270 7 1,163 6 1,088 5 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 81 9 54 6 55 6 58 6 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 57 8 52 7 33 4 32 4 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 28 3 28 3 36 4 38 4 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 50 5 45 5 55 6 50 5 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 17 4 12 3 25 6 17 4 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 41 6 38 6 26 4 23 3 
			 Dorset and Somerset 33 7 42 8 41 8 35 6 
			 Essex 35 6 43 7 35 6 36 5 
			 Greater Manchester 47 5 46 5 48 5 34 3 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 46 7 62 9 43 6 48 6 
			 Kent and Medway 51 8 49 8 62 10 45 7 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 18 4 20 4 23 4 27 5 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 62 8 51 6 62 7 62 7 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 19 3 39 7 31 5 35 5 
			 North Central London 58 8 52 7 39 5 31 4 
			 North East London 34 6 36 6 38 6 27 4 
			 North West London 91 9 67 6 55 5 69 6 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 33 6 37 7 34 6 35 6 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 19 4 36 7 22 4 16 3 
			 South East London 37 6 51 8 50 7 30 4 
			 South West London 62 9 68 10 43 6 34 5 
			 South West Peninsula 59 9 61 9 53 7 47 6 
			 South Yorkshire 24 5 29 6 23 5 29 6 
			 Surrey and Sussex 91 7 95 7 102 7 82 6 
			 Thames Valley 52 5 62 6 50 5 53 5 
			 Trent 54 6 54 6 50 5 41 4 
			 West Midlands South 29 5 26 4 30 4 28 4 
			 West Yorkshire 42 5 49 6 32 4 42 5 
			  Notes: 1. Complete leaver means the dentist had an open GDS or PDS contract in March of the previous year but no GDS or PDS contract in March of the specified year. 2. Percentages are calculated on the number of dentists with an open GDS or PDS contract as at 31 March in the specified year. 3. The dentist numbers include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts are excluded. 4. A dentist may have a contract in more than one SHA area. Therefore, data at SHA area may include duplications of dentists leaving. England data excludes duplication. 5. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. SHA areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory. 6. The numbers of leavers include all notifications, received by the dental practice board, up to 11 May 2006. 7. SHA boundaries as at 31 March 2006.  Source s : The Information Centre for health and social care. NHS BSA.

Dental Services

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what methodology her Department uses for assessing levels of patient access to primary care dental services.

Rosie Winterton: The Department monitors the numbers of patients who receive national health service care or treatment from a dentist one or more times during a 24 month period. The latest data are contained in 'NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter 3: 31 December 2006' which is available in the Library. It is for primary care trusts to decide locally what other indicators or standards they wish to use monitor access to services.

Dental Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many units of dental activity have been allocated to  (a) England and Wales and  (b) Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust in financial year (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08;
	(2)  how many units of dental activity are available to dentists in each primary care trust in England;
	(3)  what the average number of units of dental activity available per head of population is in  (a) England and  (b) Milton Keynes.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer s  23 May 2007
	Information is not available in the form requested. Information is available on the level of service commissioned.
	Primary care trusts (PCTs) commission dental services from local dental providers. Information is collected centrally on the number of contracts each PCT holds and the units of dental activity (UDAs) these represent. UDAs are a way of measuring and giving relative weight to the course of treatments given to patients. The latest information showing the total number of UDAs commissioned as at 31 March 2007 by PCT is provided in a table which has been placed in the Library. Information is available for England only, and is also available at:
	www.performance.doh.gov.uk/dental_contracts/index.htm
	The annualised number of UDAs commissioned expressed per head of population is 1.55 at England level and 1.36 for Milton Keynes PCT. The latest available population data is as at 2005.

Dental Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the  (a) maximum,  (b) minimum and (c) average value of a unit of dental activity is in England;
	(2)  what the value of a unit of dental activity is in each dental practice in Milton Keynes.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer s  23 May 2007
	Data collected by the Department centrally does not identify the value of units of dental activity (UDAs) or provide a basis for comparisons of UDA values between primary care trusts (PCTs) or dental practices. PCTs set contract values and service level requirements locally. UDA values will vary because of a number of factors, including differences in treatment patterns and treatment needs in different areas, the contract values negotiated locally by PCTs and dental practices, and the degree to which PCTs and practices may have agreed service outputs that cannot be measured through patient courses of treatment.

Dental Services: Cornwall

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the likely effect on dental services of the decision by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust not to comply with the decision of the NHS Litigation Authority for the determination of contract activity for dental practices in Cornwall.

Rosie Winterton: The Departments understanding is that the primary care trust in question is still in the process of working through the implications of the NHS Litigation Authority decision with its local dental providers.

Departments: Higher Civil Servants

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the members of the Department Board on  (a) 6 May 2005,  (b) 5 May 2006 and  (c) at present; and what the job title is of each.

Rosie Winterton: Membership of the Department's Management Board as of the dates requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Membership of the Departmental Management Board 
			  As of 6 May 2005  
			 Sir Nigel Crisp Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of the National Health Service 
			 Sir Liam Donaldson Chief Medical Officer and Director of Health and Social Care Standards and Quality 
			 John Bacon Director of Health and Social Care Services Delivery 
			 Hugh Taylor Director of Health and Social Care Strategy Development and Business 
			 Christine Beasley Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Public Involvement and Patient 
			 Richard Douglas Director of Finance and Investment 
			 Stephen O'Brien Director of Strategy 
			 Sian Jarvis Director of Communications 
			   
			  As of 5 May 2006  
			 Hugh Taylor Acting Permanent Secretary 
			 Sir Ian Carruthers Acting Chief Executive of the NHS 
			 Sir Liam Donaldson Chief Medical Officer 
			 Julie Baddeley Non-Executive Director 
			 Derek Myers Non-Executive Director 
			 Ken Anderson Director General, Commercial 
			 Christine Beasley Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Patient and Public Involvement 
			 Alan Doran Acting Director General, Departmental Management 
			 Richard Douglas Director General, Finance and Investment 
			 Margaret Edwards Director General, Access 
			 David Flory Interim Director General, Financial Recovery 
			 Richard Granger Director General, NHS Connecting for Health 
			 Nic Greenfield Acting Director General, Workforce 
			 Barbara Hakin Acting Director General, Commissioning 
			 Bill McCarthy Acting Director General, Policy and Strategy 
			 Duncan Selbie Director General, Performance 
			 Matt Tee Interim Director General, Communications 
			   
			  At present (8 May 2007)  
			 Hugh Taylor Permanent Secretary 
			 David Nicholson Chief Executive of the NHS 
			 Sir Liam Donaldson Chief Medical Officer 
			 Julie Baddeley Non-Executive Director 
			 Derek Myers Non-Executive Director 
			 Mike Wheeler Non-Executive Director 
			 Christine Beasley Chief Nursing Officer and Director General, Experience, Involvement and Professional Leadership 
			 David Behan Director General, Social Care 
			 Andrew Cash Director General, Provider Development 
			 Clare Chapman Director General, Workforce 
			 Alan Doran Director General, Departmental Management 
			 Richard Douglas Director General, Finance and Investment 
			 Ivan Ellul Acting Director General, Commissioning 
			 Richard Granger Director General, NHS Connecting for Health 
			 Una O'Brien Acting Director General, Policy and Strategy 
			 Michael Seitz Acting Director General, Commercial 
			 Matt Tee Interim Director General, Communications

Doctors: Training

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was of running the Medical Training Application Service in 2006-07; and what funding has been allocated to the service in 2007-08.

Rosie Winterton: The total cost of the Medical Training Application Service, including set up costs, is 1.9 million in 2006-07. The funding requirement that has been estimated for 2007-08 is 1.5 million.

Doctors: Training

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the  (a) junior doctors and  (b) junior doctors' representatives whom she met on each day since 1 February to discuss modernising medical careers.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 May 2007
	 My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) who represent junior doctors on 28 February and 14 March. She also met with the Royal College of Physicians on 16 May.
	On 5 March my right hon. Friend met Paul Dmitri, chair of the Academy of the Medical Royal Colleges Trainees Group.
	On 11 May she met a small group of junior doctors at Whiston hospital, St. Helens and Knowsley Trust.
	In addition the Secretary of State had phone calls with the BMA on 8 March, 9 and 16 May.
	My noble Friend, the Minister of State (Lord Hunt) met with James Johnson chairman of the BMA on 2 May.
	There have also been a series of official level meetings with representatives from Remedy UK and the BMA on modernising medical careers since 1 February.

Doctors: Training

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to guarantee care standards in the transitional period to modernising medical careers and the implementation of the working time directive.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 21 May 2007
	To ensure service is maintained at the beginning of August and patient care is not compromised, strategic health authorities are working with trusts and NHS employers are working with the Department to plan now for managing the transition in the period after 1 August. These plans include advertising locum posts on NHS jobs to fill training posts and using extensions to contracts or service posts.
	Not all doctors in training will change jobs on the same date at the beginning of August. Arrangements for 2007 will reflect current practice as most doctors at the level equivalent to the senior house officer grade will start in the first week of August, while doctors at the equivalent of the specialist registrar grade will have staggered start dates. From August 2007, the European Working Time Directive requires doctors in training to be working a maximum 56 hour week (averaged over the six month reference period). Doctors in training typically work a 56 hour week already, consistent with their new deal contracts.

Eating Disorders: Young People

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) boys and  (b) girls aged (i) under 10, (ii) 10, (iii) 11, (iv) 12, (v) 13, (vi) 14, (vii) 15, (viii) 16, (ix) 17 and (x) 18 years were admitted to hospital for illnesses or conditions relating to eating disorders in each of the last 10 years.

Ivan Lewis: Information is not collected in the format requested. Information is available from 1996 -97 onwards about the number of finished consultant episodes following a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder.
	We take the issue of eating disorders, especially among young people, very seriously. This is why the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce a clinical guideline on the core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders, and which NICE published in 2004. The guideline covers physical and psychological treatments, treatment with medicines, and information specifically for patients, carers and the general public. The guideline is due for review in January 2008.
	
		
			  Count of finished in year admission episodes where the primary diagnosis related to an eating disorder( 1) ; 1996-97 to 2005-06, NHS Hospitals, England 
			Age 
			Under 10  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
			 2005-06 Female 23 13 20 32 58 82 130 71 76 57 
			  Male 35 16 6 4 9 6 14 6 10 5 
			 2004-05 Female 20 21 7 34 50 105 73 65 54 48 
			  Male 11 4 1 12 13 22 13 6 4 6 
			 2003-04 Female 21 8 27 20 64 61 69 64 71 66 
			  Male 93 1 6 5 10 6 5 2 9 1 
			 2002-03 Female 15 19 16 18 55 81 85 67 96 50 
			  Male 50 75 3 9 9 5 9 8 2 5 
			 2001-02 Female 26 11 17 20 41 63 87 60 75 53 
			  Male 18 1 3 10 5 8 3 3 4 1 
			 2000-01 Female 16 12 6 25 40 91 87 68 65 34 
			  Male 11 5 3 4 4 2 9 1 2 0 
			 1999-2000 Female 20 15 10 28 49 73 98 77 46 77 
			  Male 10 0 3 u 3 7 6 2 0 1 
			 1998-99 Female 15 3 12 40 70 52 73 61 49 57 
			  Male 20 1 3 1 9 1 7 2 4 1 
			 1997-98 Female 33 6 29 21 40 56 68 60 53 44 
			  Male 31 7 4 3 8 9 8 1 4J 3 
			 1996-97 Female 36 12 14 9 35 62 84 61 48 46 
			  Male 43 7 2 3 3 10 4 2 2 3 
			  Notes: 1. A finished consultant episode is a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures represent the number of treatment episodes provided, but do not represent the individual number of patients seen, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. 2. The eating disorders covered are: anorexia nervosa, atypical anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, atypical bulimia nervosa, overeating associated with other psychological disturbances, vomiting associated with other psychological disturbances, other eating disorders, eating disorders unspecified, feeding disorder of infancy and childhood and pica of infancy and childhood.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre

Health Services: Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what mechanisms exist to monitor the accuracy of statistics provided in reporting on the provision of health care in prison establishments; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what mechanisms exist to allow staff to report the submission of statistical inaccuracies on the provision of health care in prison establishments; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department uses a system of star ratings to monitor the state of prison health care services across England and Wales. This is based on a framework of measures, including prison self-assessments, external inspection reports, and prisons' performance against key areas such as mental health and dental waiting times.
	Data is collected for each prison establishment via Prison Service Area Offices. It is for primary care trusts, in conjunction with other stakeholders, to ensure the quality of returns concerning prison health care to the Department, Any inaccuracies will be resolved locally.

Hospitals: Security

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to increase hospital security.

Rosie Winterton: In April 2003 the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) was created and assumed responsibility for all security related issues in the NHS in England with a particular priority given to violence against NHS staff. A comprehensive strategy has been implemented detailing both preventative and re-active action to be taken to tackle security related problems both nationally and locally.
	An integral element of the strategy is the creation of a role for an accredited local security management specialist for every trust to develop the security work previously undertaken in the NHS to raise the standards of that work to a consistently high level.
	In June 2006, the Department published a consultation paper, Tackling Nuisance and Disturbance Behaviour on NHS Healthcare Premises: a paper for consultation. As a result of the positive response to the proposals they are being explored with the Home Office, with a view to their introduction into a Criminal Justice Bill.

Macular Degeneration

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England were (i) diagnosed with and (ii) treated for age-related macular degeneration in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of people diagnosed with age related macular degeneration is not collected centrally.
	The majority of patients receiving treatment for macular degeneration are likely to be treated as out-patients. We do not hold data showing the number of out-patient attendances for this condition.
	The following table shows the number of in-patient admissions for those whose primary diagnosis was degeneration of the macular and posterior pole. We do not hold data for Jarrow which is covered by South Tyneside Primary Care Trust.
	
		
			   Finished consultant episodes 
			   South Tyneside PCT  North East strategic health authorities  England 
			 2005-06 100 2,214 31,386 
			 2004-05 64 2,135 26,793 
			 2003-04 51 1,735 24,501 
			 2002-03 41 2,098 22,354 
			 2001-02 32 1,830 18,864 
			 2000-01 22 1,470 18,092 
			 1999-2000 41 1,327 15,828 
			 1998-99 11 602 13,843 
			 1997-98 6 309 11,350 
			 1996-97 7 403 10,101

NHS: Nappies

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the promotion of  (a) re-usable nappies and  (b) disposable nappies in NHS hospitals; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: It is for individual national health service hospitals and trusts to determine the practicalities of promoting the use of reusable and/or disposable nappies in their maternity units. We believe that parents and carers should be given information on the benefits of using either of these options to enable them to make an informed choice. Two comprehensive information booklets, The Pregnancy Book and Birth to Five, published by Central Office of Information on behalf of the Department, are given free to all first time mothers. Both booklets give detailed information on both types of nappies.

Primary Care Trusts: Public Appointments

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of the appointees to the boards of primary care trusts in each of the last five years declared political activity for  (a) the Labour party,  (b) the Conservative party,  (c) the Liberal Democrats and (d) other parties.

Rosie Winterton: The appointment of primary care trusts chairs and non-executive directors has been delegated to the Appointments Commission by the Secretary of State. I have, therefore, asked Anne Watts, Chair of the Commission, to respond to the hon. Member directly with the detailed information requested.

Sight Impaired

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England were registered as partially sighted in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England were registered as blind in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: Information for Jarrow constituency is not centrally available.
	The number of people who are registered as blind or partially sighted in South Tyneside, the North East of England and England, for all ages, at 31 March for the years 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006 are shown in the following two tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of people registered as blind at 31 March between 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2000  2003  2006 
			 England 158,600 157,800 156,700 152,500 
			 North East 7,700 7,300 6,700 7,000 
			 South Tyneside 500 500 500 600 
			  Note: Registration is voluntary; therefore this does not give you the total number of blind people.  Source: SSDA902 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of people registered as partially sighted at 31 March between 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2000  2003  2006 
			 England 138,200 148,700 155,200 155,200 
			 North East 6,900 7,500 7,600 8,400 
			 South Tyneside 400 500 500 600 
			  Note: Registration is voluntary; therefore this does not give you the total number of partially sighted people.  Source: SSDA902 
		
	
	Statistics on all registered blind and partially sighted persons are collected triennially from all 150 councils in England.

Prime Ministerial Duties and Responsibilities

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1120-1W, on Prime Ministerial duties and responsibilities, what the practice under successive administrations is, referred to in the answer of 9 December 2003,  Official Report, column 374W, to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis), on ministerial duties; and on what occasions appropriate arrangements have been put in place in line with this practice.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave my hon. Friend on 21 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1120-1W.

Aerials: Planning Permission

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes are planned to the planning guidance in relation to mobile telephone masts; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Munn: Government intend to review the permitted development rights contained in Part 24 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 which grant a general planning permission for some types of minor telecommunications development to take place without the need to submit a planning application to the local planning authority. The aim of the review is to ensure that permitted development rights remain fit for purpose, particularly in the light of technological advances in telecommunications. Following the completion of this review, we will consider what, if any, changes might be necessary to Government Planning Policy in relation to telecommunications.

Brownfield Development

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will give the figures referred to in the answer of 22 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1387-8W, on brownfield development, for the latest year available, broken down by region, county and local authority.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 8 May 2007
	Information on  (a) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-developed land (also referred to as brownfield land) as a proportion of all new dwellings including conversions  (b) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-residential land as a proportion of all dwellings on previously-developed land and  (c) the percentage of new dwellings on previously-residential land as a proportion of all new dwellings for 2005 has been placed in the Library.
	This information has been taken from the Department's Land Use Change Statistics (LUCS). Because of the way that LUCS data is collected, the statistics are variable from year to year and are usually given as an average over a multi-year period at a local authority level as this is considered more robust and representative. However, as requested, the latest figures available have been provided.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's latest estimate is of the average cost of a Home Information Pack, including VAT, following the publication of the proposals in her consultation paper, Home Information Pack Update: towards 1 June.

Yvette Cooper: The market price for a Home Information Pack (HIP) will vary depending on a number of factors including the size, value and type of the property. The only new element in the HIP is the energy performance certificate which is likely to cost around 100. All other elements are currently paid for in the home buying and selling process. For the purposes of the revised RIA which will be published alongside revised regulations, we have estimated the cost of a HIP for be 370 plus VAT. However, we do expect competition in the market to drive down prices. Some providers have said they will offer HIPs on a no saleno fee basis, and others have said they will offer HIPs for free.

Home Information Packs

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the re-mandation of Home Condition Reports will be considered as part of the review of the transitory arrangements for home information packs scheduled for December 2007.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 May.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar, of 20 April 2007,  Official Report, column 792W, on home information packs, which organisation the concession agreement has been made with; what the total value is of the concession agreement contract; and if she will place a copy of the concession agreement in the Library.

Yvette Cooper: The concession agreement was awarded to Landmark Solutions, part of Landmark Information Group Ltd to operate the register of Home Condition Reports and Energy Performance Certificates for dwellings. Landmark operate this facility of behalf of Communities and Local Government by the way of a concession contract.
	The value of the concession agreement is entirely dependant on the volume of home condition reports and energy performance certificates lodged in the register. A lodgement fee of 1.15 is paid by a certification scheme or accreditation scheme each time a home condition report or energy performance certificate is lodged in the register.
	We intend to place a copy of the concession agreement in the Library once we have obtained agreement from Landmark and removed any commercially sensitive information.

Home Information Packs

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) home inspectors and  (b) domestic energy inspectors have been both trained and accredited.

Yvette Cooper: I refer to the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by my right. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State on 22 May.

Housing: Energy

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how long it takes to train  (a) a domestic energy assessor and  (b) a home inspector.

Yvette Cooper: The time taken for an individual to qualify as a home inspector or domestic energy assessor would depend on their previous experience and the amount of training they require in order to meet the required standards.
	Currently advertised training schemes for home inspectors can vary between three and 12 months, depending on the starting competency level of the candidate. domestic energy assessor courses range between four and 12 weeks, with the duration dependant on the initial level of knowledge and competence of the candidate, although at least one other provider is offering an intensive course lasting one week.
	To meet the needs of candidates who are already employed and cannot study full-time, most courses comprise several days of assessed workshops, together with distance learning carried out in the candidates own time. If a candidate wished to undertake their distance learning on a full-time basis, they could complete their course in a shorter period.

Housing: Energy

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how many  (a) home inspectors and  (b) domestic energy assessors will qualify on 1 June.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 May.

Housing: Inspections

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) energy assessors and  (b) home inspectors are qualified and available to produce energy performance certificates; and what estimate she has made of the number who will be qualified and available from 1 June 2007.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 May 2007.

Housing: Standards

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many assessments were carried out in  (a) England and Wales,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London local authority under the Housing Health and Safety ratings system (HHSRS) in 2006-07; how many assessments under the HHSRS last year in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority were on properties in (A) the private rented sector, (B) local authorities and arms-length management organisations and (C) the registered social landlord sector;
	(2)  how many properties in the private rented sector were assessed under the Housing Health and Safety ratings system as representing a  (a) Category 1 hazard and  (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority in 2006-07;
	(3)  how many council and arms-length management organisation properties were assessed as having  (a) Housing Health and Safety ratings system Category 1 hazard and  (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in each (i) English region and (ii) London local authority in 2006-07;
	(4)  how many registered and social landlord properties were assessed as representing a Housing Health and Safety ratings system  (a) Category 1 hazard and  (b) Category 1 hazard (crowding and space) in (i) each English region and (ii) each London local authority in 2006-07.

Yvette Cooper: The Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) only came in force on 3 April 2006 so the Department has not yet collected data on its use from local authorities. The Department will be collecting information on housing assessments through the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and the Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA) returned by local authorities which will provide data as at April 2007. It is usual for the Department to publish the HSSA and BPSA at the end of the year subject to the data quality.
	The HSSA data will include figures for dwellings with category one hazards, the estimated cost of removing the category one hazards in private sector dwellings and the number of private sector dwellings made free of category one hazards or demolished as a direct result of action by the local authority during 2006-07.
	The BPSA data will include figures for the number of local authority homes that do not meet the statutory minimum standard for housing and the costs to put the defects right.
	The English House Condition Survey will provide a national estimate of category one hazards for its 2006 findings, which we expect to publish early 2008. This will provide estimates of the number of category one hazards in each type of housing stock at the national level.
	The Department is also committed to undertaking a detailed review the operation of the HHSRS once the system has been in operation for a while.

Housing: Standards

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  which local authorities have not yet received the additional money allocated for meeting the decent homes standard due to not reaching the designated quality standard;
	(2)  how many local authorities had not been awarded 2 star status for housing as at 31 March;
	(3)  which local authorities have received a 2 star inspection award for housing.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 23 May 2007
	The need to achieve a 2 star rating from the Housing Inspectorate in order to qualify for decent homes funding applies only to arms length management organisations (ALMOs) set up by local authorities that are seeking additional government resources to bring their housing stock up to the decent homes standard.
	57 ALMOs have been set up since 2002 under the first five ALMO bidding rounds. 56 of these have now been inspected. 46 have achieved at least the necessary 2 star rating to qualify for funding. Eight have been awarded 0 or 1 star ratings and are preparing for or awaiting the results of re-inspection. Two have recently had initial inspections and are awaiting the results. The following table lists the local authorities involved, and funding provided.
	
		
			  ALMO funding awarded up to the end of 2007-08 
			
			  Local authorities with ALMOs on rounds 1-5 that have achieved at least a 2 star rating from the Housing Inspectorate 
			 Ashfield 55,320,000 
			 Derby 97,176,000 
			 Hounslow 99,650,000 
			 Kirklees 149,800,000 
			 Rochdale 106,300,000 
			 Stockton 63,000,000 
			 Westminster 74,000,000 
			 Wigan 137,300,000 
			 Barnsley 141,600,000 
			 Blyth Valley 48,358,000 
			 Bolton 157,560,000 
			 Brent 67,997,000 
			 Carrick 23,060,000 
			 Cheltenham 31,440,000 
			 Colchester 35,710,000 
			 Hillingdon 59,300,000 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 43,439,000 
			 Leeds 382,461,657 
			 Oldham 86,400,000 
			 Waltham Forest 17,000,000 
			 Barnet 48,783,400 
			 Gateshead 104,140,000 
			 High Peak 9,306,000 
			 Islington 84,523,200 
			 Newcastle 190,820,000 
			 Poole 23,792,120 
			 Sheffield 279,364,060 
			 Solihull 50,245,000 
			 South Lakeland 14,715,000 
			 Warrington 30,199,680 
			 Bury 16,560,000 
			 Haling 104,548,000 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 92,062,500 
			 Manchester 47,406,000 
			 Newark and Sherwood 26,810,000 
			 Rotherham 102,500,000 
			 Sandwell 126,000,000 
			 Gloucester (1) 
			 Newham 78,113,000 
			 Stockport 40,360,000 
			 Wear Valley 5,000,000 
			   
			  Local authorities with ALMOs that have been inspected, but have not yet achieved a 2 star rating 
			 Easington  
			 Bassetlaw  
			 Eastbourne  
			 Nottingham  
			 Wolverhampton  
			 Slough  
			 South Tyneside  
			 Southend  
			   
			  Local authorities with ALMOs awaiting the results of their initial inspections 
			 Doncaster  
			 Hackney  
			   
			  Local authorities with ALMOs yet to be inspected 
			 Lambeth  
			 (1) To be confirmed

Ordnance Survey

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department had with the Minister for the Third Sector with responsibility for the Office of Public Sector Information between 1 June 2006 and 13 July 2006 on a complaint made against Ordnance Survey by Intelligent Addressing Limited.

Angela Smith: There were no discussions between the Department and the Minister for the Third Sector on the complaint made between those dates.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of possession actions by social landlords which led to households losing their homes in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2004-05; and how many such cases involved (i) single people and (ii) families with children.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the number of evictions in respect of registered social landlord tenants in England in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
	
		
			   Number of evictions (on all grounds) 
			 2004-05 13,400 
			 2005-06 12,841 
			  Source: Data from annual Housing Corporation Regulatory Statistical Returns. 
		
	
	The data cannot be further broken down to show the number of single people and families with children.
	Communities and Local Government have asked local authority landlords in England to submit data of tenants subject to possession proceedings for 2005-06. While data has been returned, it is not considered to be of reliable quality in this first year of data collection. We are working to address these issues and will have a clearer view for 2006-07.

Social Rented Housing: Insurance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps she plans to take to promote the take-up of insure with rent schemes among uninsured households; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with  (a) the insurance industry,  (b) local government and  (c) housing associations on promoting insure with rent schemes among uninsured households;
	(3)  what guidance she has issued to local authorities and housing associations on promoting insure with rent schemes among uninsured households.

Yvette Cooper: The Government recognise the important role of insurance as a financial tool, enabling households to protect against potential losses arising from risks to assets such as the home or a car.
	Registered social landlords and local authorities are required to provide high standards of customer care. Landlords should consider all aspects of this, including insurance.
	The Housing Corporation has issued guidance on facilitating access to insurance in its publication 'Insurance for All'.
	The Housing Corporation has met with the Financial Inclusion Taskforce and with the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss the role of housing associations in promoting financial inclusion.
	The Corporation and social landlords have also met with representatives from the insurance industry, to discuss how best to ensure coherent advice and good practice in the social housing sector.
	The Department has recently received in invitation to join a Ministerial Working Group on financial inclusion, which will determine detailed priorities for financial inclusion policy, including insurance, which is currently under consideration.

Travelling People

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities do not meet the minimum standards set in relation to the provision of travellers' sites.

Meg Munn: The Government have established a new framework to increase the number of authorised Gypsy and Traveller sites in line with need. Local authorities are required to undertake an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in their area, and we understand that these assessments are completed or underway in 90 per cent. of authorities. Regional assemblies then determine need at a regional level and allocate pitch numbers to individual local authorities in regional spatial strategies.
	Local authorities will then need to identify land to deliver the pitch numbers identified in their development plan documents.

Written Questions

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to reply to question 130747, tabled by the hon. Member for Brent East on 27 March 2007.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 21 May 2007
	I have now replied to the hon. Member's question.

Written Questions

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will answer question 136372, on brownfield development, tabled by the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells on 8 May 2007.

Yvette Cooper: I have now replied to the hon. Member's question.